Blood Testing through Nintendo? Smart Pills that Tattle if You Skip a Dose? You Betcha
Stuff that sounds like science fiction is becoming reality, according to Ernst & Young's new report on the state of the pharmaceutical industry.
Among the next-generation initiatives already underway:
- Bayer (BAY) teamed up with Nintendo to develop a glucose monitor that plugs into a Nintendo DS or Nintendo DS Lite system. Called Didget, the monitor encourages diabetic kids to test their blood-sugar levels by rewarding them with gaming points. The product -- originally conceptualized by the parent of a child with Type I diabetes -- is available in the UK.
- Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) subsidiary Lifescan worked with Apple (AAPL) to create an iPhone app that monitors glucose levels. It also tracks glucose trends and calculates sugar intake during meals.
- Novartis (NVS) and medical device maker Proteus Biomedical are working on smart pills that relay data to doctors after being swallowed. The pills are embedded with wireless communication devices that can track when you take them and check for adverse reactions.
- Novartis also has a partnership with IBM (IBM) and Vodafone (VOD) called SMS for Life, which uses short messaging service technologies (i.e. text messaging), toll-free numbers and web sites to track and manage malaria drug supplies in clinics, hospitals and dispensaries across Tanzania.
- While some drug makers have avoided online patient communities for fear of discovering new side effects, biotech UCB (UCB.BR) has teamed up with online health community PatientsLikeMe.com to collect the experiences of epilepsy patients, regardless of treatment regimen, with a goal of furthering knowledge about the disease.
- And not all of the initiatives on E&Y's list are high-tech. Novartis is exploring reaching out to patients in rural India through a program that would sell over-the-counter medicines at post offices.